søndag den 19. september 2010

US Army cadets have to face the moral conundrum of taking one life in order to save the lives of others. David Edmonds considers this dilemma with trainee soldiers studying philosophy at the West Point military academy in New York state. (...)

Imagine there is a runaway tram, known in America as a trolley, heading towards five people tied to the track.

You are a bystander.

If you do nothing, all five will die.

But you could hit a switch and divert it down a side track.

Unfortunately, on that spur is one person and if you turn this tram, this person will die.

What should you do? Turn the tram? Most people think you should.

Now imagine that same tram is again heading towards five people. This time you are watching from a footbridge.

There is a fat man leaning over this footbridge. If you push him over, he will land on the track and die, but his bulk will stop the tram.